August 23, 2017

23 Aug 2017 19:27

Intelligence has the ability to save lives and prevent disasters with the ultimate purpose of educating the public. This awareness bulletin transmits alerts regarding current and future threats to North America.

Harvey to Produce Major Flooding to End the Week – Texas, United States

Depending on the track and speed of Harvey, which will regenerate, enough rain may fall on portions of Texas to bring the risk of major flooding from Friday to Sunday. Harvey will travel over the warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico through Friday. Harvey is expected to become a tropical storm. The system has the potential to become a hurricane before making landfall somewhere along the Texas coast late Friday or Friday night. There is some uncertainty about the exact point of landfall at this time as a non-tropical system may block Harvey's path as it nears the coast. Well ahead of Harvey's arrival, rip currents along the western and central Gulf Coast will increase in number and strength. Whether Harvey makes landfall as a strong tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane may not make a huge difference in terms of impact. While increasing winds, building seas, and rough surf are not to be taken lightly prior to Harvey making landfall, the main threat to lives and property from Harvey will be from flooding. The potential for major flooding exists along much of the Texas coast to portions of central and northeastern Texas. Depending on Harvey's exact track, flooding is possible in portions of Louisiana as well.

Gunmen shot dead a reporter in the violent Mexican state of Veracruz on Tuesday, authorities said, bringing to at least nine the number of journalists killed in the country this year. Reporter Candido Rios and two other men died after being shot by the unknown assailants in the municipality of Hueyapan in the south of Veracruz, local police said in a statement. Murders have risen significantly in Mexico during the past couple of years, and 2017 is on course to be the bloodiest year on record, underlining the failure of President Enrique Pena Nieto's government to tame the violence. Aggravating the problem for Pena Nieto have been attacks on journalists, which have prompted some world leaders to express concerns about the matter during visits to Mexico.

U.S. Hits Chinese And Russian Companies and Individuals With Sanctions for Doing Business With North Korea – China, Russia, North Korea And The United States

As part of a broad effort to further isolate North Korea, the Treasury Department on Tuesday placed sanctions on Chinese and Russian individuals and firms it said had conducted business with the country in ways that advanced its missile and nuclear weapons program. The sanctions against 10 companies and six individuals are designed to disrupt the economic ties that have allowed Pyongyang to continue funding its missile and nuclear program despite strict United Nations sanctions prohibiting it. U.S. sanctions, even though they are imposed by just one country, have an outsize influence because most international banking is conducted in U.S. dollars. The measures prohibit U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with the sanctioned companies. The Trump administration has been trying to strengthen the economic vise on North Korea in an effort to persuade it to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons development.